How Much Does it Cost to Repair a Swimming Pool Heater?

Heating your pool is a convenient way to keep it available to you and your family to enjoy through the seasons a bit longer. Swimming pool heaters are the most complicated piece of pool equipment on your pool. They are complex devices consisting of a number of moving parts using either gas or electricity to provide heat. To ensure it’s ready to be used at all times, you should treat it the same as you would a home heating system with regular maintenance and checkups. Below are some items that could affect the cost of repairing your pool heater.

Lack of Maintenance

If you haven’t taken care of your heater and had regular maintenance and upkeep, it could be more expensive to fix. Most people realize that their heater is broken when it stops working or their energy bill suddenly increases – by this time, a simple repair may have become a complicated one and therefore cost you more money.

Check Warranty

Solar heaters last around 10-20 years with very low maintenance and much of the maintenance cost could be under warranty so check with your professional. Electric heaters last between 5 and 10 years and because heat pumps are a mechanical device with many moving and electrical parts, they require periodic service by a A/C technician and warranties range from 1 to 10 years on parts and/or labor. Gas heaters last around 5 years and due to the high operating temperature inside a gas heater, maintenance may be more frequent and gas heaters are more expensive to repair. Warranties range from 1 to 5 years, usually only on parts.

Size of Heater

Not only will the type of your heater dictate the price of repair, so will the size of your heater. Larger heaters will require more work and it may be more difficult to get to the problem.

Saltwater Pools

Saltwater is highly corrosive, and a heater must be equipped with a special heat exchange and other features to handle it. Because these heaters are so specialized, they are going to be more expensive to fix.

Other Issues

Not only could the problem be electrical or a problem with a part within your heater, but critters that creep, crawl and fly often take up residence within your heater, which can seriously affect its performance. There are also other factors to consider such as leaks, soot, rust, and control failure.